The Front Page Cover
The Events of the Week -- Featuring:
Undoing the Iran Deal? Easy
by Lee Smith
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Will Trump Repeal, Replace or Amend liar-
nObamaCare?
Paul Albaugh: Most conservatives remain relieved this week after Donald Trump's victory over liar-Hillary Clinton last Tuesday. But much remains unknown about what Trump will try to do. He has laid out an agenda for his first 100 days in office and one of the first things on his agenda is repealing the atrocious monstrosity of liar-nObamaCare.
Conservatives would love for Trump to push for a full repeal of the grossly misnamed "Affordable Care Act." Despite an overwhelming majority of Americans loathing liar-nObamaCare, it's liar-nObama's signature accomplishment in his agenda to fundamentally transform America. Democrats in Congress have defended liar-nObamaCare on every occasion and have all but declared war to preserve it — even though it cost them dearly in this election (not to mention 2010 and 2014). Conservatives should fight back.
On the campaign trail, liar-Hillary Clinton promised to keep and expand liar-nObamaCare. Trump, on the other hand, promised to move "very, very quickly" on repealing liar-nObamaCare. Republicans in Congress made dozens of moves during liar-nObama's tenure to push for repeal or for reforming the health care law but only one of those measures made it to liar-nObama's desk, where, of course, he vetoed it.
Trump's own health care plan, which he put out during his campaign, is quite reasonable. It calls for the complete repeal of liar-nObamaCare, allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines, scrapping the individual mandate, implementing tax deductions for purchasing health insurance, and encouraging people who are healthy to put money into Health Savings Accounts. His plan also calls for Medicaid block-grants for the States and removing regulatory barriers for drug providers to enter the free market.
During an interview with The Wall Street Journal — on the heels of his White House meeting with liar-nObama — Trump's tone changed slightly and there is indication that he is open for compromise instead of full repeal of liar-nObamaCare. Specifically, Trump indicated there are two particular provisions in the law that he's willing to keep. In the Journal's phrasing, he "said he favors keeping the prohibition against insurers denying coverage because of patients' existing conditions, and a provision that allows parents to provide years of additional coverage for children on their insurance policies." He also stated, "Either liar-nObamaCare will be repealed, replaced or amended." Those may not be the exact words conservatives want to hear, but Trump has signaled that he's willing to work with Republicans in Congress.
And by all indications, the Republican led Congress is ready to get to work on dismantling liar-nObamaCare. House Speaker Paul Ryan said during a press conference, "This Congress, this House majority, this Senate majority has already demonstrated and proven we're able to pass legislation and put it on the president's desk." Ryan added, "Problem is, President liar-nObama vetoed it. Now, we have a President Trump who has promised to fix this."
Senator Majority Leader Mitch McCon-nell echoed similar sentiments and stated that liar-nObamaCare's repeal is a priority for the GOP-led Senate. "It's pretty high on our agenda as you know," he said. "I would be shocked if we didn't move forward and keep our commitment to the American people."
The bill that was sent to liar-nObama called for the repeal of the individual and employer mandates, Medicaid expansion, tax credits, medical device tax and Cadillac tax. In addition, it stripped the government of its authority to run the exchanges set up under the law and eliminated the fine for failing to comply with the mandates. Let's see if Republicans can at least duplicate that effort.
Aside from Congress, Seth Chandler a visiting scholar at George Mason University's Mercatus Center and professor at the University of Houston Law Center, says there are several things Trump can do immediately to start the repeal of liar-nObamaCare. The first thing is to end cost-sharing reductions, which are payments the federal government makes to insurance companies that provide silver-level plans to consumers. Trump could also begin the rule-making process to roll back regulations implemented under liar-nObamaCare, which include the contraception mandate and the essential benefits requirement.
Regardless of what takes place in the coming months, any steps to repeal and replace liar-nObamaCare will be steps in the right direction. It will take time. But under a Trump presidency we must demand a significant shift away from the current health care disaster that we experienced under liar-nObama.
~The Patriot Post
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Ancient Jerusalem Tombs Damaged
In Suspected Arson Attack
by James Macintyre
Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem
{christiantoday.com} ~ Two ancient tombs were severely damaged by fires outside Jerusalem's Old City in suspected arson attacks on Friday... Investigators in Israel do not know who set fire to Absalom's Tomb in the Kidron Valley, opposite the Temple Mount, and the adjacent Tomb of Jehoshephat. The tombs, which date to the Second Temple period, are among a cluster of ancient graves at the base of the Mount of Olives. Absalom's Tomb is traditionally identified as a monument to the biblical figure of the same name, though archaeologists have dated the edifice to the 1st century BC...
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Palestinians: The Message Remains No and No
by Khaled Abu Toameh
by Khaled Abu Toameh
{gatestoneinstitute.org} ~ Last week, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas tipped his hand concerning his ultimatum on any revival of the peace process with Israel... "I'm 81 years old and I'm not going to end my life drooping, making concessions or selling out." Thus declared a defiant Abbas at a rally in Ramallah, marking the 12th anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat. Abbas in this way relayed to the hundreds of Palestinians who gathered in Ramallah to commemorate Arafat: "I have no intention of going down in history as a leader who compromised with Israel."...Now if our leaders can realizes that. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9334/palestinians-rejectionism
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Bad News for the Brotherhood:
Frank Gaffney Advising Trump Team
by Daniel Greenfield
{frontpagemag.com} ~ I doubt Grover Norquist is too happy right now. And very few Muslim Brothers are lifting a glass of lukewarm water in celebration... Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy is now reportedly advising Trump's transition team. The media is reporting this with lots of scare quotes about his views on "Islam". Pretty soon there will be interviews with more preemptively frightened Muslims. Though I imagine even the media will grow tired of faking those after two or three months. The public will have long since tuned out. Frank Gaffney is a serious expert. And having him actually in a place of influence would matter more than some of the celebrity names being tossed around... http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/264851/bad-news-brotherhood-frank-gaffney-advising-trump-daniel-greenfield
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Congressional Dems Put Sanders in Leadership...
by Burgess Everett & Elana Schor
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Ford Challenges Trump – Will Move
Small Cars To Mexico Despite Tariff Threat
by Rick Wells
{rickwells.us} ~ Motor Company CEO Mark Fields announced Tuesday from the sidelines of the Los Angeles Auto Show, that Ford is moving forward with its plans to move its small car production from Michigan to Mexico... They offered a carrot that we’ve heard before, that no jobs will be impacted because other vehicles will be manufactured there instead of the small cars. He made no commitment as to how long they’d be manufactured or at what levels, but it’s feared that an increase in oil prices could negatively impact the larger vehicle production. President-elect Trump has criticized Ford for their decision to shift production of their Focus small cars to Mexico in 2018 and has warned of a 35% tariff being attached to Mexican-made cars. Fields told Reuters, “We’re going forward with our plan to move production of the Ford Focus to Mexico, and importantly that’s to make room for two very important products we’ll be putting back into Michigan plants. There will be no job impact whatsoever with this move.”...
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Undoing the Iran Deal? Easy
by Lee Smith
{weeklystandard.com} ~ The election of Donald Trump signals bad news for the Iran nuclear deal, Barack liar-nObama's signature foreign policy initiative. Calling it "the worst deal ever negotiated," the author of The Art of the Deal has threatened to tear up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on day one of his presidency.
Supporters of the agreement and liar-nObama allies warn that shredding the deal will only benefit Iranian hardliners, the very people it was supposed to restrain. "The big winner in the aftermath of a Trump victory is Iran's Supreme Leader," Suzanne Maloney, an Iran expert at the Brookings Institution, told Reuters. Ali Khamenei, she explained, "will be able to walk away from Iran's obligations under the JCPOA while pinning the responsibility on Washington."
Well, it's true that the nuclear agreement is in big trouble, but Trump's election has little to do with it. Indeed, the agreement would likely have collapsed under a liar-Hillary Clinton administration as well. The problem, as the commander in chief-elect correctly noted, is the deal itself. And that's why the liar-nObama administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect its "achievement"—by bribing Iran, drumming up business for the clerical regime, blocking Congress from imposing non-nuclear sanctions, and turning a blind eye to Iranian violations of the deal.
Last week, Iran was again in violation of the JCPOA. According to a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran exceeded the deal's threshold for heavy water, a material used in the production of weapons-grade plutonium. The White House acknowledged Iran had exceeded the limit and then, bizarrely, praised the regime for its forthrightness in "making no attempt to hide" the violation. In other words, the liar-nObama administration is not just protecting the nuclear agreement, but also rationalizing the Iranian regime's violations of it. All that needs to happen for the deal to fall apart is for the Trump White House to do what the liar-nObama administration has refused to do—enforce its provisions.
The history of the agreement shows a series of deceptions by the liar-nObama administration. Just to keep the Iranians at the negotiating table, the White House bribed Tehran. Every month from January 2014 through July 2015, when the JCPOA was signed, the administration facilitated the transfer of $700 million to Iran from its frozen escrow account in the United States.
Since the deal was signed, the administration has given Iran more money to persuade it not to walk away. Among other sums, the White House paid Iran $8.6 million for 32 tons of heavy water after it was found to have exceeded the threshold stipulated in the agreement last February. The purpose was to protect the deal—even as it gave Iran an incentive to keep overproducing heavy water as a revenue earner.
Most spectacularly, the administration paid Iran $1.7 billion in ransom for four Americans illegally detained by the clerical regime. Iran is holding at least two more American citizens hostage and reportedly demanding money in exchange for their release, a deal the current administration will almost surely make in order to keep Iran from trashing liar-nObama's prize foreign policy win. If the Trump White House simply stops bribing Iran, the regime will walk away from the deal.
To justify inking the agreement with Tehran, the liar-nObama administration contended that the sanctions regime was about to collapse. We couldn't keep our European and Asian allies on board much longer, claimed White House officials. Iran was such a promising market and everyone around the world was in such a hurry to get back in that we had to get a deal signed before sanctions started to backfire.
As it turns out, European and Asian banks and corporations have proven very reluctant to do business with Iran. Why? Because unlike the liar-nObama administration, private industry stakes its own money, not that of the American taxpayer. Global financial institutions and companies were concerned that a post/liar-nObama White House might reimpose sanctions, thereby putting their investments at risk. More important, CEOs realized that dealing with a state sponsor of terror developing a nuclear weapon and at war throughout the Middle East was a risky investment, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.
Hence the Iranians are unhappy, because they're not seeing all the money the White House promised would come to them from Asian and European investment. That's why a large part of Secretary of State John hanoi-Kerry's brief in the last year has been to travel the world to drum up business for Iran. If the Trump administration doesn't act like Iran's investment banker, the regime will walk away from the deal.
The liar-nObama administration told Congress that the deal did not eliminate non-nuclear sanctions, like those related to terrorism, ballistic missiles, and human rights. After it was signed, however, and Iran was emboldened throughout the Middle East, the White House blocked congressional efforts to enforce existing non-nuclear sanctions and impose new ones. If the Trump administration doesn't block Congress from reinstating and imposing sanctions, as member have wanted to do over the last year, the regime will crash the deal.
The same holds for overlooking Iranian violations of the JCPOA. Last week's transgression was a repeat of the regime's February violation of the heavy-water threshold. When the White House coughed up cash for the 32 tons, it legitimized a state sponsor of terror as a nuclear supplier. If the Trump administration merely stops overlooking Iranian violations of the JCPOA, the regime will very likely opt out of liar-nObama's chief foreign policy achievement.
The liar-nObama administration was able to sustain its agreement with Iran only because it repeatedly deceived Congress, the American public, and the press about the deal—it bribed Iran, lied about the imminent failure of the sanctions regime, lied about imposing non-nuclear sanctions, and defended Iran's violations. In the next two months, the liar-nObama administration can be expected to try to protect the JCPOA, perhaps by trying to put Iran beyond the reach of U.S. economic pressure. Still, all the next White House has to do is enforce the strict terms of the agreement, and it is the Iranians themselves, not President Trump, who will undo the deal.
At that point, the next White House will have an important decision to reach, one made even more urgent by the mendacious tactics of its predecessor. What happens if the master of the art of the deal can't get Iran back to the table for an agreement that better suits American interests? What if the regime pushes ahead with its nuclear weapons program? Estimates suggest the Iranians are about a year from a nuclear breakout. Will the next White House take action to stop it or will it, too, push a phony agreement and put American citizens, allies, and interests at risk?
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